U-T Multimedia

SAN DIEGO – It's not much to hold onto now. But if you're a Chargers fan, you must hold onto it, because there isn't much else at this point.

Kansas City and Oakland are the next two opponents.

Yep, that's all we've got for you.

In the NFL, success is often a matter of who you play and when you play them. And the Chargers are supposedly hitting a soft patch in their schedule.

It's about the only thing to give optimism regarding a team rapidly approaching turmoil.

And things will only continue to get worse unless they can soothe feelings, salve egos and begin to feel better with a couple victories.

Because while head coach Norv Turner is correct in assessing that the Chargers played better in some areas in Monday's loss to the Denver Broncos, they are hurting enough that those improvements might not matter.

Sitting 3½ games behind the Broncos, their chances of winning the AFC West are, at best, faint. And they're sixth in a race for two wild-card playoff spots.

For more than standings, they need to take advantage of this two-week run at Kansas City and home against the Raiders.

The locker room is growing restless.

It is a vibe similar to that in the middle of the 2007 season.

It hasn't taken until Week 10 this year, because the Chargers have been through this before.

This is the third straight year under Turner that they have been 2-3.

And the Broncos don't stink anymore.

Players are quietly questioning Turner's grip on the collective psyche, the discipline instilled and the ability to motivate. No one will admit they personally have tuned the coach out, but they say it's a danger perilously close to happening with teammates.

LaDainian Tomlinson, left on the sideline on a third-and-goal in the first quarter Monday, is by no means the only irritated Charger.

Losing does that.

Winning will make it better, as it did in 2007. Nothing really changed that year, except that the Chargers beat Baltimore and then beat Kansas City and so on right up until the AFC Championship Game.

But while there were things to be excited about in 2007, there seem few tangibles to be optimistic about this season.

The Chargers have allowed their past two opponents to convert 61 percent of their third downs. On the season, their defense ranks last in the league getting people off the field on third down.

Their offense is hardly better. Tied for the fewest rushing yards per game, they have fallen to the middle of the pack overall (14th) and in third-down efficiency (15th).

That might be OK if their defense could stop teams.

They are allowing the sixth-most rushing yards and 10th-most yards, the latter of which represents an improvement of three spots after Monday's game.

They are allowing the fifth-most points.

Their seven sacks through five games is their lowest five-game total in 33 years. They have turned the ball over as many times (seven) as they've taken it away. Quarterback Philip Rivers has been sacked 15 times, including a career-high five times Monday.

After Monday's game, players acknowledged they are weary of being faced with battling back every season, but they talked the good talk, saying they have showed they are capable of turning their fortunes around.

Does this team have that in it?

“If we do they'll say this team has it,” Turner said. “If we don't they'll say this team didn't have it. We don't like being in this position, but our guys, as I said, we have great character in our locker room.

“We've got guys who have played at an extremely high level, and that's what they're going to demand of each other.”